Hero Strategy
A Hero Strategy is a winning strategy that relies on Heroes instead of Normal Units or Fantastic Units. There's one strategy that is considered by far the best. It is explained further below. But let's cover the hero basics first. Hiring Heroes Each round there's a certain chance, that a Hero shows up for hire. This chance depends on the Wizard's current fame and the number of heroes in service. The chances in percent are always integer. At least are needed to increase the chances. Having one hero in service decreases the intitial chances from 3% to 1%. So, a player may not want to take the very first hero showing up (or better accept his offer and kill him so that he will never show up again). A certain amount of is needed before certain heroes offer their service: At least one spellbook is needed for Elana and Roland. At least one spellbook is needed for Mortu and Ravashack. Summon Hero randomly summons one of the heroes listed betweeen Brax and Yramrag. Summon Champion randomly summons one of the heroes listed between Mystic X and Warrax (spellbook requirement must be matched). Torin can only be acquired by using the Incarnation spell. Hero Abilities If a Hero is useful or not may depend on his or her Hero Abilities. About half of the heroes come with Random Abilities. Those are random picks which are determined at the start of the game. Here's a list of abilities I consider useful: All heroes with random picks can get Lucky. This is the ultimate pick for most heroes. The bonus is always nice to have, especially for heroes with 2 attack types. Additionally, Lucky boosts the hero's defense in two ways: increases the effectiveness of , e.g. + is as effective as . Secondly, decreases the effectiveness of all enemy melee attacks, e.g. + is as effective as (provided that the enemy has no internal To Hit modifier). The malus was removed in the unofficial 1.40n Insecticide patch. Heroes with Caster ability will contribute half of their skill to the Wizard's monthly overland casting skill, if they stay in the wizard's Fortress. This is important to know for the strategy explained further below. Which Attributes does a Hero need? A Hero needs to fulfill at least one of the following 4 properties to become a good fighter: * having a Ranged Attack, preferably a * having First Strike or a strong * having lots of Hit Points, preferably through Constitution * having a good defense, preferably through Agility or Lucky If a hero doesn't fulfill any of these properties, then he or she will always be in great danger when being used in battle. It's not worth putting all the effort (Items) and time (Experience) into a hero that dies too easily. Don't underestimate the effect of ! A hero with Lucky, Agility and Invisibility may even become immune to the attack of a Great Drake, which is with distance the strongest attack in the whole game. Items and Hero Attacks A Hero can carry a Weapon (Sword, Mace, Axe, Bow, Wand, Staff) and at least one Miscellaneous Item (Jewelry). Not every weapon type can be equipped by each hero. If the hero is able to carry a Sword, then he or she is also able to carry an Armor Item (Platemail, Chainmail, Shield). Otherwise, the hero is able to carry a second Miscellaneous Item. The different item types boost the hero stats by this at maximum: Chain and Plate Mails created with and have an additional defense bonus which is for Chain Mails and for Plate Mails. A melee hero may get up to by just wearing items ( for Sword, for Plate Mail and for Jewel)! The listed Attack and To Hit boni won't improve all attack types. For the 5 different hero attack types we have: * : Attack and To Hit are improved by Sword, Mace, Axe and Jewelry, but not by Bow, Staff and Wand. * : Attack and To Hit are improved by Staff, Wand and Jewelry, but not by Sword, Mace, Axe and Bow. * : Attack and To Hit are improved by Bow and Jewelry, but not by Sword, Mace, Axe, Staff and Wand. * : Attack is improved by Axe and Jewelry, but not by Sword, Mace, Bow, Staff and Wand. To Hit isn't improved by any kind of Item. The hero needs Blademaster ability to reach +7 To Hit. * : Attack is improved by Jewelry, but not by Sword, Mace, Axe, Bow, Staff and Wand. To Hit isn't improved by any kind of Item. The hero needs Blademaster ability to reach +7 To Hit. In the unofficial 1.40n Insecticide patch, can also be improved by the same items that boost the Attack Strength of the last two Attack Types (i.e. Axes and Jewelry for and Jewelry for ). is the most useful from these attack types. One attack just requires . So, gaining 1 level not only improves the hero's Attack Strength, but also the number of ranged attacks they may make. The ranged attack will become devasting, if the hero has Arcane Power or Blademaster, or if the hero is equipped with a decent Staff. It's even possible to overcome the granted by Magic Immunity. will absorb 15 Damage in average, so the hero just needs to have and for a fifty-fifty chance of inflicting damage. Item Powers Item Powers are special offensive and defensive abilities offered by items, a Hero may not obtain otherwise. The item power's effect cannot be dispelled. If a Wizard is able to create an artifact with a certain item power, depends entirely on how many Spellbooks the wizard posseses in the corresponding magical Realm. A wizard does not need to learn the corresponding spell (if there is any) to use the item power. For example, a wizard with 5 spellbooks has pretty small chances to learn the spells Flight, Magic Immunity and Invisibility. However, the same wizard is able to create artifacts with the corresponding item powers as soon as he or she has learned the Create Artifact spell. Here's a list of Item Powers I consider useful The last 5 ones aren't very useful though. I want to put emphasis on the following Item Powers: * Flight: Being able to fly has advantages both in combat and on overland map. Additionally, it increases your moves on overland map by one (also in combat, but only if you are not wearing Armor or Jewelry with extra moves). * Magic Immunity: This makes you immune to all damage dealing spells and gives you against , and , as well as against everything but Poison (which makes you immune to Life Steal, Stoning Gaze, Stoning Touch, Death Gaze and all resist or suffer spells). On Hard and Impossible Difficulty Settings, the enemy wizards will relentlessly throw Psionic Blast, Lightning Bolt, Doom Bolt and Ice Bolt on you. Magic Immunity is pretty much the only way to survive these spells (a combination of Invulnerabilty, Righteousness and True Sight may also work). Web and Cracks Call still work! * Invisibility: The enemy AI won't use any ranged attack against you. Enemies without Illusions Immunity are penalized with in melee combat. Through a bug, the enemy will still know where you are and throw spells on you. But it is still worth its costs! * Flaming: Your weapon receives +3 Attack strength. Especially useful on Swords, Bows and Axes. * Invulnerability: Absorbs the first 2 hits inflicted by every enemy figure and damage dealing spells. You also receive Weapon Immunity (which is useless if you have ). * True Sight: This gives you Illusions Immunity. Phantom Warriors, Phantom Beast, Aerie and Psionic Blast won't penetrate your anymore and you become immune to Mind Storm. * Lion Heart: You receive you , , , and . This is one of the few ways to increase your number of permanently. The offensive item powers only work for the attack(s) related to the weapon (e.g. melee attack for a sword; melee and thrown for an Axe). An axe literally doubles the effect of Stoning, Death and Vampiric when given to a hero with a thrown attack. Spells Here's a list of spells I consider very useful in connection to Heroes. Most of these spells restore health, make heroes harder to hit or interact with heroes in a special way. Spells with a corresponding Item Power are not listed (e.g. Magic Immunity). Retorts There are 2 Retorts that enhance the wizard's Item Crafting skills: * Artificer: reduces item costs by -50%; wizard starts with Create Artifact * Runemaster: reduces item costs by -25%; requires 2 Spellbooks in 3 different Realms If you possess both retorts, then item costs are quartered (-75% reduction). This has a very nice side effect: You can earn by creating items and destroying them afterwards (anvil symbol). For every mana spent, you get 2 mana back (netto win: 1 mana)! The higher your Spell Skill, the faster you are able to earn mana. Spell Skill can be increased by stationing spell casting heroes in your fortress, or investing in skill. The Archmage retort may also be helpful, if you possess the other 2 retorts. Famous retort adds and doubles the chances for hero offers. However, it requires 2 picks, so I don't consider it useful. Strategy Let's summarize some results of the previous sections: * Artificer and Runemaster reduce the costs of the spell. Moreover, you can earn just by creating and destroying artifacts. However, Runemaster requires 2 Spellbooks in any 3 Realms * 5 spell books allow the usage of the Item Powers Flight, Invisibility and Magic Immunity. Magic Immunity is almost the only way to protect your Heroes against all kind of damage dealing spells (except Cracks Call). * Magic is a great for supporting heroes: Heroism, Healing, Prayer, Resurrection, Invulnerability and Incarnation are a must-have. * Owning and Spellbooks makes the enemy Wizards mistrust you. They may attack you while you are still unprepared. * The High Elves are the only Arcanian race whose population generates power. Combining these results, you get the following build: * Picks: 5 books, 2 books, 2 books, Artificer, Runemaster * Spells: , , , , , * Race: High Elves Jafar and Kali can be nasty opponents. Choosing one of them as customized leader is recommended. Procedure In the first round, put Tax Rate to and convert solely into . Create an artifact with a total cost of and destroy it for . Afterwards, convert solely into Spell Skill and continue creating & destroying artifacts. Also use Earth Lore and Magic Spirits to explore the surroundings. With a skill of 20, you can try to conquer nearby Sorcery Nodes guarded by Phantom Warriors, Nagas, Phantom Beasts and Air Elementals. As soon as you reach , Heroes may offer their service. If you get a Spell Caster early on, you must decide which way to go: either be offensive by conquering neutral Towns and clearing small dungeons (with Heroism and lesser Magical Items), or be defensive by staying in the fortress in order to increase your wizard's global spell skill (with Heroism and a weapon). Since hiring heroes is very unreliable, you should try to get as soon as possible, either by Research or by trade in return for or . Personally, I guard my hometown with 1 or 2 Longbowmen and a City Wall (made by Wall of Stone). I don't build any Outpost, and I often raze neutral towns I conquer. The more you expand, the higher the chances that enemy wizards send troops to your places or even worse declare war on you. So, stay rather defensively until you have a semi-good hero equipped with semi-good items: Warrior Build (no thrown, no missile): Sword: , , up to , perhaps or Stoning Chain/Plate: up to , up to , Magic Immunity, perhaps Endurance, Bless or Jewelry: up to , up to , Flight, probably Invisibility Mage Build: Staff: up to , , up to , up to Jewelry #1: up to , up to , Flight, up to Jewelry #2: up to , up to , Magic Immunity, Invisibility or up to Weak Points The strategy mentioned above is a very solid way to beat the game on any Difficulty Setting. There are a few points you have to pay attention to: * Enemy wizards may use Spell Blast to stop you from creating artifacts and summoning heroes. There's no way to counter Spell Blast as soon as a wizard begins to use it against you. So watch out for Jafar and Kali. You don't have to fear Horus though, since he is generally among your best friends. * Enemy wizards may use the combination Web + Cracks Call which can irreversibly kill even the strongest hero. You'll also lose the hero's artifacts - even if you win the battle. One remedy is entering the battle with cannon fodder (weak ground units). Try to attack the wizard's fortress first. * Phantom Warriors and Phantom Beasts ignore your armor entirely - unless you have True Sight. The Chaos Spawn's Doom Gaze causes fixed damage - no way to stop that. Alternative builds * replace the 2 Spellbooks with 2 books: Now you can summon Hell Hounds with whome you can conquer and protect Sorcery and Chaos Nodes more efficiently. Additionally, you can enchant your items with Flaming Item Power. On the other hand, your diplomatic relationships will suffer, and you won't know in advance if a Wizard can cast the Web + Cracks Call combination. * replace the 2 Spellbooks with 2 books: In this case, wizards won't hate you, but you must come along without the help of those many helpful spells such as Heroism, Healing and Prayer. * take Archmage retort instead of your fifth book: Archmage will nearly double your Spell Skill in early game, so this will accelerate your progress in creating magical items. On the other hand, you won't be able to use the Item Powers Magic Immunity and Invisibility anymore. There are some remedies for this issue: find a fifth in a well-guarded Sorcery Node; research Magic Immunity spell (ideally together with Spell Lock); get the hero Shin Bo, either by casting Summon Hero or by rescuing him from a dungeon; acquire Incarnation spell to summon Torin; get Summon Champion and summon a mighty hero e.g. Roland. * take 5 Spellbooks instead of 5 books: Here, the combination Righteousness + Invulnerability will take over the role of Magic Immunity (fear Psionic Blast unless you get True Sight, also beware of Ice Bolt), and Water Walking replaces Flight. You may find items granting you Magic Immunity or Flight. * take Archmage and 4 Spellbooks: Wraithform may take over the role of Flight. It also gives you Weapon Immunity and makes you immune to Web and Cracks Call. Ice Bolt and partly Psionic Blast may be countered by turning your hero Undead using Black Channels. There's no way to counter the spells Fire Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Warp Lightning and Doom Bolt though (Elemental Armor may help a little). So again, wait for a hero with Magic Immunity or Invisibility. Or drain the enemy's reserve by using Mana Leak and stalling for 50 rounds. You may want to create artifacts with '-Spell Save' to achieve Black Sleep's full potential. Heroes can (re)gain HP by casting Life Drain (-Spell Save doesn't work here though - unless playing with unofficial 1.40 Insecticide Patch). Category:Strategy